Poetry by Tenneson Woolf

Some of my poetry is listed / linked below. More recent poetry included in my blogs is here.

I’ve published three collections of poetry.

  • In My Nature (CentreSpoke 2023) is my most recent. I love what connects inner with outer.
  • Most Mornings (CentreSpoke 2022). I love sharing some of the inspiration that went with each poem in this collection.
  • A Cadence of Despair: Poems and Reflections on Heartbreak, Loss and Renewal (CentreSpoke 2020) was also important to me but in a very different way than it was for In My Nature, and for Most Mornings. I offered some of my journey with despair, sometimes crafted into words, sometimes clunked, knowing that many people were seeking such learning.
  • Invitations from Crocus (March 2023) — I love the invitation of Spring that comes with Crocus, the first of the flowering bulbs in my Utah yard.
  • What of the Loudness (March 2023) — I think I’m perpetually endeavoring to ground my relationships with inner and outer.
  • Have Courage (February 2023) — Guidance systems matter to me. Every now and then, a few simple sentences arrive as such (inspired by Pema Chodron’s book, Living Beautifully.
  • Courage and Toleration (January 2023) — Speaks to the desire and need for hearing and responding to life calling.
  • What Now?, Seen, Levels of Joy, Integrate the Remnants (2021) — A collage published in The Journal of Creative Aging (p 30), with extra thanks to friend and colleague Katharine Weinmann.
  • Belonging is Biological (2020) — A few musings prosed to the irrepressibleness of belonging.
  • A Poem of Appreciation (2020) — I had recently returned from a trip to see my daughter and son in law, and was feeling grateful for connection.
  • Toward Pheasant Brook (2020) — It was one of those days when I really appreciated some unquarantined time.
  • Each Day: A Poem of Witness (2020) — Some sense making, and grief that comes with CoVid times.
  • Goodbye Son (2017) — A poem I wrote earlier this year, from a tender moment of saying goodbye.
  • Time and Time Again (2017). I have an ongoing relationship with time. I love the buzz of being able to be quick. I also am deeply troubled by it when speed and efficiency is all that there is, or all that we expect together. I wrote this poem one morning trying to shake things up.
  • I Want to Hear Our Voices (2014) — I wrote this one morning as I woke from a dream. It is a yearning that I hear in many men and in men’s work that comes from a place beneath the calcified surface.
  • The Bonneville Shoreline (2010) — This poem came from a hike I took near where I live. It was late evening. The sun was setting. I was looking over the valley that once would have been the Bonneville Sea, yet now is the urban area in which I live. I was reflecting on how things change.

I also often use poetry by others. For the same purposes — to inspire, to bring depth and play. I haven’t curated these, but if you use the Search Feature on this site to search by poet name, you might find a few that you are looking for and that have moved me.

brown mushrooms growing on mossy tree trunk in forest surrounded by leaves tenneson woolf poetry
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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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asd
In My Nature is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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asd
Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

This will close in 60 seconds